The Breaking Point
by its-that-one
Summary: Alana's suspicions about Hannibal are starting to bother her. She wants to break his facade. Hannibal knows Alana is suspicious about his ignorance of Will's deteriorating state. He wants to break her mind
1. The Objective

Hannibal slowly got up from the uncomfortable metal folding chair and straightened his back, silently sighing in relief. He had been in this rigid, straight back position for the three hours he had come to visit Will and the dents in it didn't help either. He knew that Chilton had picked the worst one to give him but Hannibal decided not to complain about it. He had to get on Chilton's good side if he wanted to help Will. Requests for better accommodations f and reduced interviews with eager and incompetent psychiatrists did not come easily. Will had only been in the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane for a week but he knew Chilton was already getting paid by his inept friends just see him. He had Will every other day to make sure that he was alright, to be assured that he could ease Will into this new type of life and reiterate the fact he still is and always will be Will's friend.

"Has it been two hours already?" Will asked as the guard came to escort Lecter outside.

"Actually it has been three. A patient cancelled an appointment and I came an hour earlier," he told his former patient.

"You're too kind," Will said with a voice void of any emotion, not even the sarcasm he would have used only a week and a half earlier. "It seems all those clock exercises didn't work Doctor Lecter. My sense of time is still awry."

Hannibal didn't say anything but Will hadn't expected him to.

"I'll see you soon Will,"

Hannibal turned before Will's low voice called out to him, with an unsettling question reverberating around the cold concrete walls.

"Have you seen or heard anything from Alana?"

He stopped. No, he hadn't heard anything from Alana but the last time he saw her, the suspicious stares she was giving him were very unnerving and quite rude.

"I understand she has been consumed by taking care of your dogs and other belongings, as well as Abigail's and she has her own work to do as well," Hannibal told Will without facing him.

"I see I'm becoming a chore for her,"

"I'm sure she'll visit you soon, Will,"

He didn't reply but instead sunk deeper into the corner of his cell, with his face as dark as the shadows that hid his face from Hannibal's sight.

The guard escorted him all the way to his car, refusing to bid him a good night after Hannibal had bid him one (he made a mental note of his rude behavior), and Hannibal drove back to his house with Will's question reverberating in his ears.

* * *

Alana. She hadn't always struck him as a very intelligent woman. Even at Georgetown he made the mistake of underestimating her abilities of perception which she proved wrong multiple times during her studies under him. There was nothing she couldn't solve, no problem her mind could untangle if she was determined enough and when it came to him, Alana would be determined.

Alana presented him with the clock that Will drew for her when she went to go visit him and he had pulled out a perfect clock that Will drew for him two weeks ago and by a clock that Will drew he meant a clock he meticulously reproduced in Will's chicken scratch handwriting. But even though Jack seemed throughly, undoubtedly convinced Alana was evidently skeptical and Hannibal could see the determination growing in her eyes to figure out how Will got to point he is in now.

When Hannibal came home he went straight for the kitchen and poured himself a glass of wine. He knew that Alana was clever enough to figure out eventually that it was always him. It was always Hannibal who entered Will's mind and fed him lies, all for amusement, she would find out that it was him who had killed her friend, Miriam Lass, as well as others and provoked Chilton to convince Gideon to kill a night nurse and she would find out the true reason for the trophies that he kept from his victims and what he did with them. He had always been careful and covering his tracks but Alana's could discover them. The though worried Hannibal greatly.

He paced his kitchen wondering what to do. He considered leaving the area for a while but it would be too suspicious for him just suddenly disappear. He could kill Alana but he would be one of the suspects and even though Hannibal was sure he could persuade Jack that it wasn't him, even if he held the murder weapon in his hand, he still wasn't taking any chances. Hannibal finished his glass of wine and went to pour another as one last idea entered his head.

He would have to break her the way he did Will. Enter her mind and fabricate false truths for her to believe, toy with her and get her to trust him whole heartedly. Make her come to him instead of Jack or everyone else, make him think for her instead of her think for herself. If he secured her trust Hannibal was almost certain he could be safe and any suspicions about him would die away. He smiled a little as his nerves finally relaxed. Yes, it was a very good plan but it had to be scrupulously planned and executed but it would work. Hannibal knew it will.

* * *

There was always something suspicious about Hannibal. A man so myserious left so much to the imagination. She used roll her eyes at the immature and riduclous theories the other grad students would come up about him. Her favorite one was that he was a cyborg which is why he was so smart and hardly ever smiled. Alana dismissed these childish stories because she actually knew who she was. The first time she met him he was slightly cold, but very polite. His poise, style, manners and intellect was alluring as she had never met a man like him before. She had been determined to figure more about him but didn't want to pry into his life outside of mentoring because he would consider it rude. So she hypothesized who he was.

He was a very silent person and rarely smiled, therefore he must have had a very troubling life when he was younger. He exhibited no signs of depression so it didn't still affect him but it was still hard enough that he was very stoic. His almost unhealthy obsession with manners was a bit tricky to figure out. He was an extrodinary man and the obvious answers didn't fit him. She surmised that the place he dragged that very subtle and still entrancing foreign accent from was very big on manners. His style, taste in music, art and literature told her that he didn't want to be ordinary. You would remember him even if you passed him on the street by the way carried himself that was so different from everyone else and if you had a conversation with him about the arts, a composer or a good book his perspective on it left an imprint on you.

Her understanding of him made them closer than anyone else. She new what he would find offensive and endearing. She knew what to speak to him about and how to do it and for that reason she was closer to him than anyone else, even after her graduation. He had been to her house many time but not as much as she had been to his. She was one of the people that could arrive unannounced and leave well after his other guests had. He had invited her to dine with him alone more than other people he had meet. Her different take on things made their relationship interesting but usually ended with passionate yet polite debates. She usually won after a snark comment from her would make him chuckle and the urge to argue was gone. Alana might not have always thought so, but she believed that there was a slight possibility that her and Hannibal Lecter were _friends. _

Which is why she was so hurt and confused by what her mind was thinking about him. About how he lied to her, Jack and Will about his condition and ignored things that were clear to anyone with a brilliant mind and well trained eye as Hannibal was. The dots weren't connecting but whenever Alana though of him, her stomach turned and the hard lines of a grimace etched themselves into her face.

She was lost in her own thoughts trying to find a way to make sense of this situation. With Abigail's death, Will's breakdown, and Jack's unfair acusation and selfish excuses, She had slept onlya few hours every night and spent every free minute she had trying to figure this all out. Every thought led to Hannibal, but before she could come up with a motive, aby reason at all for him to do this, her mind went blank, but his face still lingered in her mind.

Alana was at her house, sitting on the the back porch, watching Will's dogs frolic in her back yard, pondering her thoughts again when she felt something cold, wet and unfamiliar on her hand. She looked down at Winston who rested his head in her lap, whimpering softly.

"I know Winston, I miss him too,"

His tail thumped in response and Alana scratched the top of his head.

"I need to know what happened to him, Winston. I mean, how could Hannibal miss all of that? THere must be another reason...and I need to figure out why."

Winston looked at her and tilted his head to the side.

"I know Hannibal would have seen those things in Will, he knew there was something more to Will than just...dementia. Will's cognitive problems can't have escalated to this point in just two weeks. Hannibal knows something that he's not telling us and I'm going to find out what."

And then Alana stopped. If her ideas about Hannibal were true then she needed a away to get to him. She couldn't just walk into his office and demand what happened. He would have to tell her, to trust her, to put every ounce of faith into her and then confess what he did, if he did it. Alana would have to get closer to him that she was before. If hse secured his trust Alana was almost certain she could figure out Hannibals true intentions, she knew there had to be one. She smiled a little as her mind finally relaxed. Yes, it was a very good plan but it had to be scrupulously planned and executed but it would work. Alana knew it will.


	2. Eve and the Serpent

**In Which Hannibal is the serpent, Alana is Eve and her mind is Eden**

Alana groggily dragged herself downstairs the next morning. The excitement of her plan made her brain buzz with activity all night and she slept less than she had over the past week. She had too many ideas about how to start going about her plan but none of them seemed like strong enough attacks. But her plan could wait another day, and besides she needed to sort out Will's things.

After examining them for any additional evidence the FBI granted Alana permission to take Will's belongings. The bureau had put the furniture into storage and kept the house off the market at least for the time being. His things had arrived in haphazardly packed boxes overflowing and disorganized and Alana groaned at the rough start to her already rough morning. She put a pot of coffee on in the kitchen to brew while she headed into the living room to organize Will's stuff, with the aroma of the coffee billowing behind her. Alana didn't really drink coffee. She was always a morning person. She never always got a good night's rest but always found it in herself to carry out her day effectively without a single cup. Nevertheless, Hannibal had gotten her a bag of Caribbean coffee, that she insisted was a waste because she never drank it, but it would have been rude to decline so she kept it in the back of a cupboard but right now if she didn't have something in her system she would have collapsed onto the floor.

She sat on the ground and set to work, emptying out the boxes on the floor and marking them into different categories. She then tried her best to sort through the miscellaneous objects that Will kept in his house for both sentiment and other reasons as best she could with the dogs frolicking around it, sniffing the familiar objects. Only Winston sat off to the corner, watching the other dogs make an even bigger mess with his sad brown eyes. Alana shooed them away and threw all the dog things she could immediately identify into another area of the room. She never really liked dogs, they were hairy and loud and shed everywhere but they were Will's dogs and she promised to take care of them until he was released.

Just as she finally got the dogs out of her way, she sat down and started shifting through the things to begin categorizing when the doorbell rang. It was an early Sunday morning, that was cold and damp and gray. It was the kind of day where you wanted to hole yourself up somewhere and wait for it to pass and Alana couldn't think of anybody who would dare to leave their house on such a day. She got up and opened the door.

"Hannibal," she said it a surprisingly steady voice although her blood was set ablaze by the sight of him. Hannibal looked at her and almost smirked. She was dressed in typical Sunday attire, an oversized navy blue Georgetown hoodie with black tights, hair loose and slightly disheveled and no makeup on. It was the first time he had seen her without heels on and he was amused by the fact that she was nearly a foot shorter than him. He, of course, was in his Sunday's best, a white, fine blue pinstriped, shirt under a burgundy sweater with dark gray slacks. He felt more prepared than her, more put together. She almost looked vulnerable to him and the thought elated him.

"I was just in the neighbourhood and decided to stop by and see how you were doing," he said very smoothly. She really wanted to slam the door in his face and tell him to go to the ninth circle of Hell but she begrudgingly stepped aside and invited him inside her house. The keen smell of coffee assaulted his sensitive nose and Hannibal turned to her.

"Thats the coffee I gave you, what was it a year and a half ago?"

"I don't remember I lost track after ten months,"

The dogs all rushed towards Hannibal, wagging their tails and jumping up towards him and Alana suddenly felt angry that they would suddenly flock to the man who put their owner and saviour into a mental institution. Only Winston stayed away from Hannibal and trotted over to Alana. He nudged his nose against her hand, like a gentle push forward, reminding her that she still had to act like she still trusted Hannibal. She petted Winston on the head and walked over to her guest.

"Would you like a cup?" she asked purely out of habit.

"Yes, I think I would," he told her. There's that goddamn smirk on his face, the smug bastard, she thought as she headed to the kitchen to reheat the now cold coffee.

"Don't bother yourself, I'll get it," he assured her calmly.

"You're my guest,"

"Please, I insist,"

Not very keen on serving Hannibal, Alana went back to the living room and sat down in the middle of the pile of Will's things. She smell of the coffee became stronger again and Alana closed her eyes and relished the smell. She sighed and closed her eyes with the familiar feeling of her house still present. With all the chaos in the past week, Alana could always retreat into her mind for some peace. The outside world was a mess but somehow she found the inner strength to not break down and cry. She had already broken things in her house and office but figured it could have been much worse. She listened to the steady ambient pulse of her heart at the shallow whispers of her breath and she was in some sort of peace of mind. A deep, slightly gravelly voice brought her out of her sanctuary.

"How do you take your coffee, Alana?"

"Sugar with half-and-half," she replied shortly. She didn't start organizing Will's things but tried to get back into the calm state of mind. Short footsteps interrupter her again.

"Organizing Will's things?" he asked from behind her.

"How could you tell," she replied almost sarcastically.

"As long as I've known you Alana, you've never fished," he said gesturing to a pole that lay at his feet. Sitting into the center chaos of what was brought from Will's house made it almost impossible for Hannibal to reach her with her coffee. He circled around the mess trying to find a suitable entrance towards her.

"He asked about you yesterday when I went to go see him." Alana stiffened. "He wonders why you don't visit him."

"I'm sure you told him the real reason why I hadn't been able to,"

Hannibal's voice was from a different position when he responded, "yes I did."

He continued to circle her getting closer to her like a snake around its prey coiling tighter and tighter around her.

"What exactly did you say?" she inquired.

"Only that you were busy with his things and Abigail's on top of yours," he said, with his voice right behind her.

"Ah," was her short reply.

"I suggest you take a day off, get some rest. You look like you haven't got any in quite some time and you must be exhausted because you never drink coffee," said his voice to the left of her now. He spoke slowly, in a low, largo and raspy whisper, like a quiet hiss as he continued to circle her, not for the sake of finding a suitable path to give her the cup of coffee, but merely for his peculiar amusement. Hannibal stopped in front of her and took steps over Will's things until he was standing directly above her handing her the coffee.

Through her grogginess, Alana had gotten a better look at him. His clothes were always well pressed , made of fine material and tailored to his body even his casual ones. His hair, although it was the week end, was slicked back and every hair was in its rightful and designated place. He was always so put together, so careful and meticulous and thats why he was so mysterious. Alana looked up at this man, somewho who she would have once called a friend was now that mysterious stranger that everyone traded rumors about at school. If Alana's suspicions were true Hannibal could hide it under his habit of being obsessively careful. Making sure that his tracks were covered and that no one could find him. Alana was the opposite. She digressed a lot. When presented with multiple problems, she jumped from one to the other, starting a new one of one stumped her. She solved them, and quickly too but she was very shambolic about it. Could her unsystematic plan face his painstaking covered secrets? Alana started to rethink her objectives.

"You should come with me, tomorrow, when I visit him,'' Hannibal offered. Alana saw an opening, the start in her plan to get close to him. She would have to be careful for she was treading very dangerous water. He was open to her but if she made one small mistake, one digression down a clear and methodical path, he would pick up on it and shut her out. He had given her the opportunity to find out more about him, and mysterious and troubling errs in the assessment of Will's broken mind.

But she was scared. He presented her with the opportunity of intelligence. She could discover more shocking truths about him other than what he did to Will. Horrid truths. He left too much the imagination and her imagination was running rampant through her mind, trampling on her natural inner sanctuary. Knowledge about him could be power, but ignorance about him would be bliss, yet facts do not cease to exist just because they were ignored. Because Jack decided to give up on Will, because the BAU team decided to give up on Will, hell even his dogs flocked to the man who made them lose their home gave up on Will but Alana didn't and she would find the truth and it will set Will free.

Hannibal was the serpent, offering her the knowledge. She hesitated at first before she took the opportunity of intellect. She agreed to go see Will with him. She had bitten from the fruit of knowledge but Alana did not chew or swallow it because she would not give into the serpent's lies and she would not give into sin.

**A/N: I just want to thanks the 6 people who alerted this story, the 2 reviewers and the person who favorited this. It is really ****motivational to see people enjoy your work so much so thanks :P**

**Also I might not have time to upload as quickly this time. I'll try, but this week is just full if trifling things I have to do -_-**


	3. An Old Friend

**The next chapter will come faster I promise**

Hannibal checked his appointment book as soon as he got to his office. He only had one patient, today at 9:30 and then the rest of the day was his. It was a good day for the hatching of his plan. After seeing his only patient for the day, a schizophrenic and bi-polar young man with severe social anxiety, Hannibal sat at his desk and began to draw. He really had no particular design in mind, whatever his hand did by the command of his subconscious mind. His subconscious mind drifted over to Alana again.

She was nervous about Will and stressed about work. He knew that she would be taking up Will's classes and have to refer some of her patients to another psychiatrist which would burden her mind with guilt. All of this coupled with her lack of sleep, made Alana a ticking time bomb for a mental breakdown. Hannibal stopped drawing and stroked his stubbled chin as he re-assessed that last thought. He had never met someone as determined as Alana. She could carry a lot mentally and emotionally, allowing periodical releases of emotion as to not burden herself but no enough let the wave emotion drown her. She was one of the toughest women he had ever met.

She was just like Will once he got into deeper thought. He saw how they were both caring people, and even when their minds were breaking from whatever they were facing, they both could still go on and pretend things were fine for the benefit of other people. Well, Hannibal had pushed Will to his breaking point. It had taken four(five) murders and a year, but he had done it. Hannibal felt a grin stretch his face, as he wondered how long it would take to break Alana. He knew that she was not as trustful of him as she used to be. His grin grew wider. He liked a good game, and he wondered how many plays it would take before be could break her. He took a look at what he was drawing and was surprised to find a quick sketch of her. His subconscious drifted again. What if he couldn't break her? What if his plan failed? His plan with Abigail failed and he had to chop off her ear and exile her to one of his other properties where he couldn't communicate with her until the summer where he usually visited, but very briefly. He would have to do what he almost did to Abigail. He'd have to kill her. It wouldn't be easy, but it would be hard either. It was a back up plan should things go awry but that was another plan to be developed. Or maybe he could just scare her away? That would much cleaner, he thought. His stopped and he set the pencil down and looked at his quick sketch again and smirked. Perhaps Alana should get reacquainted with and old friend, he mused as he admired the rough sketch of Alana, now laying peacefully on a bed consisting of nails, machetes, knives, spears, swords shanks and shivs.

* * *

Alana finished the slideshow up on the projector about disassociation before dismissing the class. Thankfully she only had two classes, both of them in the morning. Most seemed in a rush for their next class, or to the library or for some food or sleep, but a few hung back. Some held back. A few of them asked her meaningful questions about the symptom of disassociation and left with satisfying answers, however one girl stayed back even though Alana felt like she could have addressed any possible question the presentation could have brought up.

"Dr. Bloom?" the girl asked. "Where's Mr. Graham?". The few students who had taken their sweet time leaving instantly gravitated towards her and Alana realize that the question burning on their tongues but the girl was the only one who had the nerves to spit it out.

"Mr. Graham is taking an extended leave from his teaching position...as well is his job as a profiler for the FBI," she told them, adding in the second part so that Crawford could get some peace and quiet.

There was a bother barrage of questions. 'How long is he gone?' 'What happened?' 'Did he get fired?' 'He didn't tell us,'.

"I've told you all where Mr. Graham is already, now unless you have a question that hasn't already been answered, please leave."

The students shuffled out of the lecture hall, murmuring to themselves and hypothesizing their former teachers true reason for his absence. When they left Alana slumped into the chair behind Will's desk and rubbed her temples. Dogs and kids? She didn't know how Will could deal with it all.

Alana waited a few minutes after to make sure that no one was going to return with another question or assumption. The room remained empty for thirty minutes until Alana pulled out a bottom drawer in Wills desk and pulled out five heavy case files and spread them out on her desk. The faces of Cassie Boyle, Marissa Shore, Dr. Sutcliffe, Georgia Madchen and Abigail Hobbs stared back at her. She opened the files, trying to find a loophole that she could build upon that could clear Will's name. The only one she could find so far is that Cassie Boyle's death was before any of Will's problem's became more persistent. The disassociation, the headaches and the hallucinations all came after Cassie and Marissa's death. But Will himself said that whoever killed Dr. Sutcliffe and Georgia was the copy cat killer, the same person who killed Cassie and Marissa. Alana groaned. None of this made sense. It connected but in all the wrong places. What motive did Will have? Sutcliffe and Gerogia were slightly believable but Abigail? Will treated her like her own daughter. There's no reason for Will to kill her. He treated her like he would now own daughter. She dared to think that Will almost even loved her or wanted to chance to. As she stared at the faces of the five victims Alana found it damn near to impossible that Will's face was the last one they saw. Alana heard heavy, precise foot steps and quickly put the files back in their hiding place. Jack emerges into the room with a presence she could feel before she saw him.

"Alana," he said shortly.

"Jack," she said with the same tone.

"How are the classes?" he asked without any real interest. Alana knew he was just shooting the breeze only to chastise her for something she's not sure she did or to ruin her day with terrible news. Jack liked to take your hand and slowly lead you into the darkness before let to and left you on your own, but Alana decides to play his game and continue their idle talk.

"Only three classes, seven hours out of my day, I can't complain," she replied.

"Well I've got something for you to complain about,"

Alana blinked as if she had just noticed she missed something. That was quick. Jack didn't wait for her to reply as he leaned in closer to her desk as if the room was full of nosy people with their ears pressed against them.

"The Chesapeake Ripper,"

* * *

It wasn't the worst thing but it was really unsettling for her. Of course Alana knew the real Chesapeake Ripper was out there, she didn't once for a second believe Gideon matched up with whatever the hell it was that made the Ripper commit his crimes. Alana had another class to go to so she couldn't go with Jack and the BAU team to go look at the body and the crime scene. After her last lecture was finished and she asked the same perturbing questions about Will's whereabouts she packed up her things. She left her lesson plans and the case files in the desk and only took her coat and bag. She was about to exit the lecture hall when a dark figure turned the corner and almost bumped into her. Alana jumped and took a few steps back. The figure emerged into the light and she felt a wave of relief and then anger not only at the figure, but herself. She forget about his promise to take her to the State Hospital to visit Will and cursed herself for forgetting. Thr last thing she wanted to do was end this day Dr. Lecter.

**Oh shit the Ripper's back. Guess who he's coming for? **


	4. Aut viam inveniam aut faciam

**For translation see the last sentence**

It took everything in Alana to not run down the corridor to see Will. She had been restless the entire car ride to the State Hospital now that she had three classes to teach when she had been nothing but an occasional guest lecturer, she still had patients to counsel, she had to help the investigation of the Chesapeake Ripper and she had to run her own private investigation of Will's innocence and Hannibal's malpractice. Hannibal didn't comment on her anxiety or ask about the Ripper and when they entered the hospital he told her to go on ahead and that he would deal with Chilton. With impressive restraint Alana made her way down the corridor, the one that Abel Gideon used to be in. It was the isolation ward, the place where they put those who were different from the rest. These weren't schizophrenics or MPD patients, there was no name or explanation for the people in this corridor.

Alana walked to the far left as she had been previously instructed too until she reached the last cell. Will was on his bed, facing the wall and didn't look up.

"Will," she called out softly. His head perked up, like one of his dogs and he turned towards her. Usually he would have looked away for a quick second, rubbed his eyes or stared at his feet but his eyes bore holes into hers as he stepped forward to the bars of his cell. Alana held her breath, had he really changed that much? Would he treat her like a stranger?

Will's face slowly broke into a small smile and Alana let out the breath she had been holding as a sigh of relief and she stepped up closer to the cell bars. She took his hand and squeezed gently. His hands were usually dry from all the papers he graded but now they were clammy with sweat, like he was clasping them together to keep them idle, or to pray if he was desperate.

"How are you?" she asked. It was the dumbest question that had ever left her mouth but it came out as common courtesy.

"Terrible," he answered truthfully and gave out a short dry humorous laugh. "How are the dogs?" he asked changing the subject off him.

"Terrible," she echoed with a sad smile. "Winston, though. He behaves himself".

"How's Jack, and BAU team?"

"The same,"

If they were broken, confused and depressed before Will left, then they really were the same.

"Catch any killers?"

No they hadn't caught any killers. They had Will to make their job a little easier when he was there and now the BAU team had three cases backed up not including the Chesapeake Ripper.

"Yep,"

"You don't look so good," Wil commented with a frown on his face. "You look exhausted."

"I'm fine," she lied trying to make her fake smile reach her tired eyes.

"Yeah, well so am I," Will joked darkly.

Alana stepped a little bit closer and stuck her free hand through the bars and cupped her hand against Will's scruffy cheek. Will jumped at first, not used to such close human touch in a while, but he slowly relaxed into it, his eyelids fluttering softly.

"I know you didn't do it Will," she tells him softly.

"You don't know that," he said sadly. "Not even I know."

"It just doesn't make sense,"

"I killed Cassie Boyle, Marissa Shore, Dr. Sutcliffe, Georgia Madchen...and...A-Abigail Hobbs," he swallowed as if he was trying to force something vile down.

"Will, I know you couldn't kill anybody,"

"The proof is all there Alana,"

"I know you haven't given up hope Will and even if you have, I have enough hope in your innocence for the both of us," she said fiercely.

Will placed his hand over her own on his face and leaned in a bit closer.

"You're wasting your time Alana," he told her, "there's some damning evidence against me."

"Yeah, well I'll be damned if I'll let you get locked up for the rest of your life without a fight first,"

Approaching footsteps made them part and Alana expected to see Chilton or a staff worker but Lecter's towering form emerged the shadows. Will took two steps back as if he approached with an axe and Alana raised an eyebrow at this exchange.

"Hello Will," said Hannibal

"Dr. Lecter,"Will replied in a flat tone.

"I've brought Alana here as promised but I'm afraid that she'll have to be the only conversation you'll have for I have nothing to report and I think it's a unwise to start a conversation you can't finish. Unless there's something you want to talk about?".

Will shook his head and peered at Alana through the curls of his hair. His eyes were nearly the same shade as his hair, the pupils dilated to the point where his bright blue orbs were dark with...something.

"Alana, Dr. Chiton has asked for you in his office," Hannibal told her. She nodded half-heartedly, trapped in wonderment at the sudden change of Will's eyes. Hannibal turns to led her out and when he was gone, Will's pupils contracted back to normal size. Alana, brought back to reality, started to follow him.

"Alana," Will called out. She turned back to the cell. Will looked scared. He trembled like a leaf in a harsh gale and his grip on the bars were strong and stretched the skin over his knuckles to the point she thought they would tear.

"I'll come back tomorrow, Will," She told him.

"Do you promise?" he asked. She stood on the balls of her feet and kissed him on the cheek through the bars.

"I promise,"

Will slowly released the bars and took a few steps back. He seemed a bit more neutral now.

Alana then walked down the hallway where Lecter was waiting for her and they both went up to Chilton's office together.

"Any idea why he wants to talk to me?" she asked when they reached the door.

"He mentioned something about a favor to ask you," he responded. She knocked on the door and a very strained 'come in' allowed them access.

Chilton was sitting in his chair behind his desk in a very odd position. Almost like he was reclining. Alana was half surprised to see him there. Of course a few weeks was hardly enough to heal after a thirteen hour operation to replace your innards to their proper location inside your body, but to Chilton it was more than enough time. He was clearly in no shape to be anywhere but a hospital bed. His hand was hovering over his slightly extended stomach, made so by the multiple bandages wrapped around his torso, like his intestine were still slipping down his body. His face scrunched up like some one hand rammed a pole far up his ass and yet he greeted Alana with a 'charming smile'.

"Dr. Bloom," he said when she came in.

"Dr. Chilton I was expecting to see you in a hospital bed, or even a coffin. You're very lucky" she added quickly to lessen the previous harsh and rude comment. But Chilton laughed.

"Yes I am very lucky. Our old friend Dr. Gideon, was not, thanks to good Will,"

Alana said nothing.

"On the topic of Will Graham," Chilton continued, "I assume you'd want to hear about Will's stay here under my care?". The word care was used very loosely with Dr. Chilton.

"Will and I haven't had much of a chance to discuss his time here," she said. "But if he doesn't want to tell me then I respect that."

"Well, I'll tell you," he said getting up. Alana watched the poor man struggle out if his chair until he was standing across from her leaning on his desk for support. "You see, every patient has to have some kind of evaluation here, but Will hasn't had that. You're probably wondering why."

"Not paticularily,"

"Well it's because he refuses to speak with any of the other psychiatrists," he said, ignoring her.

"Will does not like to be analyzed," said Lecter.

"He needs to be analyzed and I know the perfect person who Will would open up to,"

Both men looked at Alana and she stared back at them.

"I'm not putting Will in that position," she said firmly. "Will does not need to take any kind of test because he's not suffering from any mental disease or disorder,"

"He clearly is because he killed seven people, five for no reason,"

"Allegedly, and wrongly accused of killing five people," she shot back. Chilton raised his hands in defense.

"I need him analyzed," Chilton said, "and given your close relation with Will-"

"Our close relationship?"

"Your...what did Agent Crawford call it...romantic overtures,"

Alana didn't say anything but the blush in her cheeks spoke for her. Chilton grinned, knowing that he had gained some kind of leverage over her and pressed forward.

"I'm afraid I have to insist that you two don't touch during visits and especially no kissing,"

Lecter raised one of his barely there eyebrows.

Chilton limped closer to her to the point where his cheap, overbearing cologne made her eyes water.

"If you don't analyze Will, I'll have him labeled as threat to society and sent somewhere you'll never seen him again,"

Chilton gave her a copy of the MMPI, "I would reconsider it," he told her. Alana didn't know what happened next. She felt her fingers curl up like she was about to punch Chilton's smirk off of his face but then she felt hands guide her outside. She broke away from them and stomped out of the parking lot. She hated everything. She hated the fact that she kissed Will, she hated Jack for gossiping about her like a middle school girl, and she hated Chilton for threatening her and just being an overall five star asshole.

She took the MMPI and wound back, prepared to send it into orbit when a hand closed around her wrist.

"Alana," Hannibal said softly. "Don't be so hasty on this, this could help Will."

"Prying open his mind and interrogating him will help?" she asks. "You saw what all of this did to Gideon, I won't have it happen to Will too!". Hannibal squeezed her hands until she calmed down.

"Will taking the test could prove that he does not fit the psychological profile to commit the murders," he told her gently. Her harsh quick breath become deep and even as she calmed down. She sighed.

"Do you think so?" She asked.

"It's worth a chance to prove Will's innocence. You're very confident in your belief that he is,"

Alana narrowed her eyes and said, "aren't you?".

"I don't believe that Will knowingly committed those crimes,"

"But you still think he did?"

Lecter nodded, but sadly. "But I find any evidence that Will is innocent I'll make it known."

_Pfft yeah right. _

"But what if there is no way to prove Wil's innocence? It would be a great waste of time and energy," he said.

_You won't shake me off that easily, Hannibal_

"Then," Alana said, "I will either find a way or make one."

**AN: Sooo I just accepted into taking some classes over the summer and I'm super excited but I'll also be really busy with that, other summer assignments, college visits and in August when I go away and then come back to band camp. So updates might be slower :( but the story is coming along and not to leave you guys in suspense of anything but the last scene is gonna be pretty awesome. At least I think so**


	5. Flashback

**Italics are the Flasbacks**

Alana kicked off her heels and slumped against the front door of her house. Upon seeing their temporary owner Will's dogs crowded around her, yapping and whining in noisy greetings. Alana groaned and dropped what she was holding, a thick packet, feeling her brain rattle around in her skull from all the noise the dogs had created. She had a splitting migraine all day, and hadn't had a chance to even take some Excedrin. She layed down on the ground resting her head against the cool wooden flooring. All she needed was a few minutes of rest, just for a while. The dogs barked and pawed at her face gently sniffing her hair and clothes and wagging their tails in her face.

"Ugh fine. You win," she told them as she dragged herself to the back door, with the dogs obediently following. She opened the door and the raced outside into her backyard and she turned back to look at her living room. The fur that littered the house was ridiculous. Even in places the dogs never went, there was fur. Her floor had dents from their constant trotting around and her house smelled like damp fur. She sighed as she hauled herself upstairs to change into some pajamas. Her bed was calling her name in a deep seductive voice but Alana just got out an old camisole and some flannel pants before heading back downstairs. The dogs were scratching at the door and she let them inside before locking it. She had put their beds in front of her fireplace like Will had done back at his house, but they settled near his things, that she had put behind her couch. They all fell asleep within minutes, mocking Alana with their loud obnoxious snores.

"Bastards," she muttered before picking up the packet she had abandoned when she came come and laid down on the couch. There was now a blanket draped over it, since she only had the energy to lay down on the couch when she came home at nights.

She opened up the packet and a wave of memories came back to her. Her headache got worse.

The MMPI lay on her lap before she opened it up to evaluate it.

_She didn't bother seeing Chilton when she visited the State Hospital. She didn't want to see his smug, bearded face when she complied with his threat to force her into analyzing Will. So she headed straight for Will, getting through the half awake orderlies who seemed unaware she had come way before visiting hours. She walked down the corridor where most of the inmates were sleeping. Some groaned a few things at her, but she had learned to ignore them. There was a metal chair in front of Will's cell since either herself or mostly Hannibal visited him frequently. She she came in front of his cell he was laying on his bed, but she knew he wasn't sleeping. It had taken her a week to muster up the courage to do this. She just hoped it wouldn't be too bad._

_"Hi," she said to get his attention. Will sat up and not facing her, looking at the wall. He eyed the packet in her hands and then looked back at the wall of his cell._

_"What's that?" he asked coldly. Alana sighed before replying._

_"It's the-"_

_"Minnesota Multiphasic Personal Inventory," he finished for her._

_Alana closed her mouth and then nodded. "Do you remember how this goes?"_

_"Refresh my memory, Dr. Bloom,"_

_Alana felt something peice her heart. Will hadn't been this formal and detached since he thought she was going to analyze him, when she found out his gift. She realized it was happening now. Alana had done everything in her power to make sure that she wouldn't analyze Will. Even break his heart._

_She couldn't stay in this position for long. The test itself could take over two hours depending how his attitude was and sitting here, carefully sorting through and choosing the right words would not help her discomfort._

_"Over five hundred questions for you to answer, true or false. This could be as short as an hour and a half, or as long as how difficult you plan to be," she said sitting down. And then Will got up and looked down at her. She suddenly felt threatened at his presence. His eyes were empty and dark. He was never really interested in his looks but now he hadn't shaved in a while and he as growing a beard. He was almost unrecognizable. Alana waited for his reaction. It was like the moment before you plunged into an icy river in the winter, waiting for the nerve that would finally push you into the frigid unknown._

_"I'll try my best...Dr. Bloom,"_

_And so Alana took a breath and then dove headfirst into the dark abyss that was Will Graham's mind._

_Barel twenty questions in, another side of Will came out._

_"My..."_

_Alana froze, knowing this would have a bad reaction from him._

_"My sex life is satisfactory," she finally said. She looked away but could feel eyes Will on her before he responded,_

_"False...but it could have been,"_

_"No one seems to understand me,"_

_"That's a gross understatement," he told her._

_"I have nightmares every few nights,"_

_"Every night, is more like it,"_

_"I have very few headaches,"_

_"False. In fact I feel one right now,"_

_And so on and so forth until an hour and forty five minutes later Alana finished the five hundredth and sixty seventh question. Alana almost ran away. Will had began pacing after the hundredth question and he picked up a very unusual and unknown tawng that she had never heard from him before. His voice dropped a little, to barely audible and he spoke in a monotonous tone with an occasional rise in pitch or volume as he paced in front of the bars, staring at her with a mixture of lust and loathing. She got very bad and vivid memories of Dr. Gideon. It was bad enough Will had to match himself up with their thinking, but their mannerisms? He seemed to be slipping further away from her._

_"So are you gonna send that in? Get an article written?"_

_"No I'm going to asses this and send it into Jack so I can get you out of here,"_

_"Still have faith in me?"_

_"Well, someone has to,"_

A single tear escaped out of her closed, eye, followed by another and another. She put the test away. Not tonight. Alana felt her stomach rumble and she put her hand over it. She couldn't remember the last time she had a decent meal. She got up and went to the kitchen. There was some week old pasta she was sure that wouldn't kill her if she heated it up long enough. She stuck it in the microwave with some sauce and waited for it to heat up. She wondered why she didn't at least have lunch earlier. And then she remembered.

_"Earl Hays,early forties, lawyer, found in a dumpster, killed three days ago" Beverly told her. Alana rubbed her eyes trying to avoid the body in front of her. She never liked looking at bodies but no one knew that. She just sucked it up since it was sometimes part her job. She was happy that it was only Beverly there. They only worked together on the case with the lost boys but Beverly really knew what she was about and she was just an overall nice person. Alana also knew that she had visited Will at least once. So when Jack called her out of her class to come look at the body she was relieved that she had someone she liked in the room with her. Its not that she didn't like Jimmy and Brian, she just wasn't in the mood for their jokes._

_"Jack said there was something...different about this whole thing," Alana told her circling the body._

_"Different how?" the other woman asked._

_"I don't know. He said he couldn't describe and that I had to see it for myself...he looked really troubled,"_

_"He's one hundred percent done with the Ripper and just wants to catch him,"_

_"I know. So am I. I'm sure we all are,"_

_"So do you see anything different?"_

_"No. You?"_

_"Nope,"_

_There was an elephant stomping around the room but neither of them wanted to point it out. And then Beverly took the leap of faith._

_"I wish Will were here," she said quietly. Alana didn't respond at first and there was a heavy silence between them for an unbearable minute and Beverly wondered if she shouldn't have said that._

_"Yeah, me too," Alana finally responded. Beverly put a light hand on her shoulder._

_"I know he didn't do it Alana. The evidence points towards him but five people? Not a chance. Not even one."_

_Alana gave Beverly a thin smile and thanked her. At least she wasn't alone. She turned back to the body._

_"Organs gone?" she asked._

_"Liver and stomach,"_

_"Impaled before death,"_

_"Always,"_

_Alana nodded and looked closely at the body, thinking that something in the physical would trigger something in the mental. And then it hit her._

_"He was found in a dumpster you said?" Alana asked. Beverly nodded._

_"Where,"_

_"Rougher part of Baltimore, in an alleyway,"_

_"That's very unlike the Ripper,"_

_Beverly looked confused._

_"The Ripper... he likes to humiliate his victims. Put them on display because...because he thinks they deserve it,"_

_Alana looked at Hays' face again. Even in death he still had an unpleasant grimace permanently etched into his face and she grimaced. This guy crossed paths with the wrong person, but Alana knew that if he crossed her path she'd probably want to kill him too._

_"This could be another copycat killer," Beverly said._

_"No, a copycat would want to get himself known to the Ripper. He would want to gain more attention that the Ripper did. The Ripper only wanted us to know he's back,"_

_"Why?"_

_"I'm not sure but it can't be good,"_

The microwave brought her out of her flashback, and any appetite she had was gone at the thought of the body. Her stomach and throat turned sour and she threw the pasta out. Hard pass on food for the rest of the night. She returned to her couch where she found Winston snuggled against it. She smiled. Winston was always looking out for her. He nudged her awake when she overslept, barked if she forgot something and sometimes nudged his bowl of food towards her like he was trying to share. She layed down on the couch and wrapped herself up the blanket and her furry companion rested his head against her arm. Alana peered over his head at the MMPI. She felt her anger on the rise and her headache came back. Winston licked her arm until she calmed down. She turned around and closed her eyes, focusing on the rhythmic pulsing of her head and shallowness of her breath. Her last thought before total darkness and disappearance from the conscious was that she sarcastically hoped that Chilton was happy that she did this for him.

Frederick Chilton unwrapped his bandage off of his stomach with tenderness. He took small shallow breaths, like normal ones would burst him open. He still had nightmares from the time Gideon almost killed him. Damn him for being alive! But even though Dr. Gideon had slightly more serious injuries..._slightly_...and had to stay in the hospital a while longer, Chilton did not feel at ease. His whole day had ensured that he was not out of the woods and had new threats to deal with.

_He had waited a week for her to show up. In that time he had wrestled with the idea of telling her. But would she believe him? Probably not. In fact she's probably tell Hannibal Lecter his 'conspiracy theory' against him. That would be unpleasant. Chilton saw her leave and decided it was best he stay out of things. Its not like he particularly cared for Bloom and wanted to protect her. He just didn't want Hannibal to win. But it was her safety against his and Chilton groaned before getting up and hobbling over to the door in his office_

_After Alana left he went down to Will's cell, ignoring the orderlies trying to seem like they had been awake all the time, even though there were crusties in of their eyes and they murmured their dreams to him. He went all the way to Will's cell, ignoring the jeers of the other awake inmates. He banged on Will's cell._

_"Morning, Graham," Chilton said. Will didn't look at him, but continued to lay down on his bed with his eyes closed and mouth shut._

_"I just saw Dr. Bloom leave. She was here an awful long time wasn't she?"_

_No response._

_"Hmm I wonder what she was doing here for almost two hours? I hope you two aren't having anymore romantic overtures. That would be inappropriate."_

_A clecnhed fist._

_"Oh wait, that's right. Your sex life **could** have been satisfactory,"_

_Will bolted upright and movedso fast that when Chilton blinked Will's face was against the bars with his breath tickling his face. Chilton yelped and took a huge step backward, before laughing it off nervously and straightening his clothes._

_"Oh please Graham, she was way out of your league. She's stable and you're not. You honestly think you had a chance with her? She was just trying to get to you so she could analyze you. She's a psychologist it is only in her nature for a professional, rather that personal curiosity. She just needed a perfect oppurtunity and well here it is," Chilton finished gesturing to the building with a smirk._

_"She wouldn't do that," Will told him._

_"Well she just did."_

_Chilton then turned away and walked back down to the corridor. He released a breath that he didn't know he held. He pulled a little at his tie around his neck hoping it could make him breath easier. Just a little bit everyday that's what Lecter had said. That's all he had to do._

He rebandaged himself before slipping to some nightwear and laying down gingerly on his bed. He held his stomach down, very paranoid that one day it would burst out and all his guts would go slipping out. He hadn't had a decent meal in a while since all he could eat was broth and porridge until he healed and he left the hospital before he was ready to. But when Hannibal invited him over for dinner that night he couldn't refuse.

_"Alana Bloom came by early this morning,"_

_Hannibal stopped eating and looked at Chilton._

_"Did she now?"_

_"Yes and she did it, Dr. Lecter,"_

_"Minnesota or Rorschach,"_

_"The former,"_

_Hannibal nodded. "That's what I taught her."_

_Chilton shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Hannibal picked it up as a sign if shyness, hesitation, fear. He got up and went to the back where a large pot say with something aromatic wafting out of its top._

_"Seconds, Frederick?" Hannibal asked his guest._

_"Yes, thank you,"_

_He leaned down next to Chilton and refilled his bowl with the coq au vin jaune._

_"To be honest Lecter, I'm not really sure about this whole thing. I mean look what I did to Gideon and he removed my organs when I was conscious and left me there for almost an hour. What happens if Will Graham escapes or goes free? And he already has help from the killers he's caught. He could make it look accidental or hide my body..."_

_Hannibal turned to Chilton and smirked._

_"There is no reason for you to be afraid of Will Graham. Will Graham is under lock and key under your supervision whereas I am running free. Will Graham is considered mentally unstable and I am perfectly sane. You should be more afraid of me because with one word I can have your job and freedom taken from you. And maybe even your life..." Hannibal added tapping the ladle against Chilton's stomach._

_Chilton stared at the other man as he retook his seat._

_"Was...was that a threat Dr. Lecter!?" he demanded angrily._

_"You could find out if you'd like,"_

_Chilton muttered something and returned to his dish._

_"And if you follow my instructions you won't have to worry about Will Graham going free,"_

_"I just don't see how she fits into this. Bloom? Graham is irreparable and I don't understand your concern over one person-"_

_"Alana Bloom is not simply 'one person'. Don't underestimate her. She is clever determined and loyal as well as Will Graham's closest and only ally. She is the one who gives him faith and is determined to prove his innocence when clearly he is not. Once Will is made to believe she is no longer his friend then he is released from his last anchor of sanity. Then...then will he be broken."_

_Chilton stared at this intelligent, mild mannered man with sadistic ideals inside his unique head._

_"And why are you so adamant on breaking Will Graham?" Chilton dared to ask._

_A pause in the conversation. An awkward rift in words as Chilton waited for an answer._

_"Will's empathy is a wonderful gift and terrible curse but I can help him control it but I need to start from scratch,"_

_"And you're sure this is a good idea?"_

_Hannibal looked at his guest._

_"Did you think psychic driving on Gideon was a good idea?"_

_Chilton turned his face towards his plate in shame._

_"We all do what we think is best Frederick and once an idea is planted in a head it can sometimes be hard to uproot until it has fully blossomed and matured for all to appreciate it...your dish is getting cold."_

_And so the conversation ended, with Chilton now frightened at Hannibal's unorthodox, unethical psychological methods and yet awestruck at his intelligence and poise while carrying it out. Forcing Chilton as an ally and using him as a pawn against Alana and Will. Ingenious. He stared at Lecter for a while in awe and __abhorrence before finishing his meal._

But Chilton had to groan before sleep starting pulling him away from the world. What had he gotten himself into?

**So you're wondering why its been a week since I uploaded. Well first of all I'm sorry to the 16 lovely people who have added this story to their alerts and the other who have this bookmarked somewhere(or at least I hope). All my summer plans fell apart. The classes and college visits I wanted to take just didn't happen so that was really depressing. Then a skeleton from my closet came out and dragged me back in there with him and I just hit a low point after that. And then the dreaded writer's block, then my band director got aggy and is calling for earlier practices before band camp actually starts and just a bunch of real life shit****. So things should be better. And if you read this whole block of my problems and said 'aw' or something along those lines then thank you darling. If you didn't then enjoy your day anyway.**


	6. The Dreaded Author's Note

Ok so I know you guys hate author's notes and hiatuses as much as I do but I really do need to take one. I'm aiming to really try hard this school year in music, academics and extracurricular activities. I need to start preparing for college too. I feel really bad, especially since I have so many followers and I really didn't expect my story to be so big and I really hate to disappoint you guys. You might not hear from me for a really long time, maybe even until next summer. Maybe on winter break or something like that I might post something. Maybe a quick one shot or chapter update. So yea, I'll see you guys in a few months.


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